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A French family with two daughters, 10-year-old Laure and 6-year-old Jeanne, moves to a new neighborhood during the summer holidays. With her Jean Seberg haircut and tomboy ways, Laure is immediately mistaken for a boy by the local kids and passes herself off as Michael. Filmmaker Céline Sciamma brings a light and charming touch to this drama of childhood gender confusion. Zoe Heran as Laure/Michael and Malonn Levanna as Jeanne are nothing less than brilliant. This is a relationship movie:
relationships between children, and the even more complicated one between one's heart and body. -- (C) Rocket Releasing… More

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Critic Reviews for Tomboy

Since we are dealing with fresh-faced tweens, we are spared the gender histrionics to be found in the likes of The Crying Game or Boys Don't Cry. Those are indeed bigger films. But sometimes small things can pay off quite nicely.

The film's greatest accomplishment is writer/director Celine Sciamma's stunning ability to draw natural, believable performances from her adolescent cast, who never hit a false note in this moving film.

As the sisters come to see that dresses and haircuts and behaviors are a means to create a self, to communicate with others, Tomboy doesn't offer an easy answer; instead, it lets you wonder why gender must be so definitive.

An honest drama that raises some interesting questions about sexual identity and why genders are supposed to be important. Sciamma directs her film with simplicity, using a naturalistic direction to approach this delicate subject, observing the characters and leaving an appropriate open ending.

In "Tomboy," 10-year old Laure(Zoe Heran) moves to a new neighborhood with her parents(Sophie Cattani & Mathieu Demy) and younger sister Jeanne(Malonn Levana). While looking out from an apartment window one pleasant afternoon, Laure sees a group of boys playing out in the park. When she finally leaves her sister and sleeping, very, very pregnant mother behind in the apartment, the boys are gone, with only Lisa(Jeanne Disson), a girl of her age, left behind in their wake. Laure introduces herself as Mikael and they run after them together, so they can join in the fun.

With that simple, elegant setup, writer-director Celine Sciamma tells an evocative and naturalistic genderblender with a very belieable sibling relationship. Sadly, the movie eventually runs straight into a narrative wall. Until then, Laure is not just being a tomboy; she is passing as a boy but not 24/7, so we'll keep to the feminine pronouns.(Actually, it is not until later that she is revealed not to be a boy.) She does this to enjoy the freedoms that boys enjoy but is too young to realize the minefield of gender that she has just walked into. That's where parents come in, as the movie smartly shows how parents help to shape their children's gender.